METUCHEN, N.J. – The New Jersey Teamsters have joined United Women’s Soccer for 2021 and will have not one but two teams in the league.
The expansion club will play in the UWS East and have a reserve team in UWS League Two, the league announced Tuesday.
After success in leagues such as the Garden State Soccer League and United Premier Soccer League, the men’s side will make the jump to the professional ranks and the National Independent Soccer Association in 2021 as well.
Founded by Alex and Sibrena Geraldino in 2017, NJTFC made history this past February as the first principal Black-owned professional soccer club in the USA.
The team will play out of Don Ahern Veteran’s Stadium, a 7,500-10,000 capacity in Bayonne, N.J. The Geraldino’s also are minority owners of Dublin County FC based in Dublin, Ireland. Dublin County FC’s application for a Division I team has been accepted and upon final approval of the FAI license will serve as a pathway-to-pro for all Teamsters FC players.
NJTFC has the following developmental teams: Reserves, U23, U19 & Elite Academy. Depending on COVID regulations & pending weather, training & women’s trials will take place in February 2021 for all teams. The team motto is: “Stand Ready to Strike!”
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“We are excited to add a second New Jersey team to our East Conference,” league commissioner Joe Ferrara said in a statement. “With the club having been already accepted on the men’s side by NISA, they are the second club with a team in both leagues. The Geraldino’s have broken barriers as being the first black ownership group of a pro franchise and now they will provide a pathway for female players in United Women’s Soccer.”
Added NJ Teamsters FC CEO Sibrena Stowe-Geraldino: “Another goal has been realized for New Jersey Teamsters FC and today we are truly excited to announce joining United Women’s Soccer. With a direct pathway to pro, our women’s pro and reserve teams will compete in UWS and League Two. I am personally looking forward to working alongside the league, to push women’s soccer forward in North America.”
Alex Geraldino is the founder and president of NJ Teamsters FC. A graduate of City University of New York at City College, Geraldino is a U.S. Federal Procurement Official and Project Manager, a registered U.S. Soccer Intermediary and a USA Boxing Official. After a brief career in NFL Europe – where Geraldino earned a championship ring for the Frankfurt Galaxy as a corner back – he returned to the States and worked for the U.S. government for over 26 years. He is the great-grandson of Antonio Geraldino, the founder of the Loteria Nacional de Republica Dominicana (National Lottery of Dominican Republic), developed to help the country’s poor.
Sibrena Stowe-Geraldino has represented numerous entertainers, athletes and high profile individuals at her boutique communications firm Stowe Communications, Inc. and La Chic Media.
The list of stars include: Beyonce, Rakim, Erykah Badu, Lil Wayne, Cash Money Millionaires, Solange, DJ Scratch, Tupac’s Outlawz, N.O.R.E., among others. Sibrena is the granddaughter to Negro Leagues shortstop, Louis “LJ” Stradford. She also is second cousin to Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Sr. and is a descendant of Bilali Muhammad, who wrote the “Bilali Muhammad Document” That is considered the “Mother Text” of American Islamic literature.
Stowe-Geraldino is looking to find a cure for rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, as a long-time advocate and former advisory board member at Arthritis National Research Foundation (2016-2018).
